These are pictures of what someone on this forum told me was some kind of a paly (under stress since they are white). Since these two pictures (the 2 with the toothpick showing) were taken several months ago, these little guys have pretty much stayed the very same. They closed up when I squirted frozen food "juice" around them and then opened a few minutes later. In the last few days they have gotten noticably larger and two of them have turned a little brown on the inside. They continue to open & close when I feed them. No new little ones have shown up My question is: Is this a good thing or bad? I thought, since they were getting larger, that seemed good. I thought that since they were getting a little brown inside that they might be turning their original color..... I've read since, that turning brown is not good and that if their tentacles got longer they were not getting enough food (I forgot to mention that the little hairlike strings around the outside have become more obvious.... I didn't know there were any to start with). I guess I'm asking for a progress report. Has anyone else had this experience with palys? Whatever anyone can tell me would be appreciated. These guys have been a lesson in patience for me........
Palys?
- Thread starter weagle117
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Starblenny
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How long have you had them? I have a couple of bleached out white palys I got from someone and it's been only about a month and a half and they're coloring up slowly. It takes time for bleached out corals to get their color back.
Some palys/zoas grow longer tentacles due to high flow (that's what I noticed for a couple of my zoas). Some zoas/paly do fine with fish waste as food. When they close up, it could be a defensive reaction instead of them grabbing on food and eating it. There's a debate in the zoa/paly community whether or not if they require spot feeding or just letting them eat fish waste...
As for them turning brown, it depends. Brown could be their original color (you might have "Cinnamon Palys", but hard to say atm) or they turn brown because they're exposed to too much light and they try to counteract it by turning brown. My zoas turned brown but I moved them down the tank and they colored up back to normal.
Either way, what you have, they look pretty darn cool already. Reminds me of white lilys
Some palys/zoas grow longer tentacles due to high flow (that's what I noticed for a couple of my zoas). Some zoas/paly do fine with fish waste as food. When they close up, it could be a defensive reaction instead of them grabbing on food and eating it. There's a debate in the zoa/paly community whether or not if they require spot feeding or just letting them eat fish waste...
As for them turning brown, it depends. Brown could be their original color (you might have "Cinnamon Palys", but hard to say atm) or they turn brown because they're exposed to too much light and they try to counteract it by turning brown. My zoas turned brown but I moved them down the tank and they colored up back to normal.
Either way, what you have, they look pretty darn cool already. Reminds me of white lilys
I bought them because I thought they were pretty then found out there are no white palys and that white is not good. I would love for them to stay white & grow & thrive.... but apparently that's not going to happen. I'm very anxious to see what color they should be. And if they will ever multiply. What colors do palys come in? Do they multiply like zoas? And how is that? I'm not really sure about that either. I have some eagle eyes that have sent up more polys but now one whole section of polyps have become "unrooted" and are hanging on by the top of one of the polyps.... Do they let go & then go somewhere else & take "root?" (like xinias). I asked that ? in another forum so don't feel obligated to discuss eagle eyes. Thanks for your expertise. I've had a fish only tank for years but I'm just getting started on simple corals.
With bleached corals the development of brown pigmentation is probably a good sign, it's the initial return of their symbiotic zooxanthellae.
if their tentacles got longer they were not getting enough food
I've never heard that before. Longer feeder tentacles on palys improve their food capture ability and eat larger food particles or items; I equate the longer tentacles to good health.
The return of the zooxanthellae and the development of longer feeder tentacles are steps in the right direction. It may take many months for them to recover. When they've fully replenished their zooxanthellae they'll slowly make the shift from brown to their ideal colors (they'll go from white to probably all brown and then slowly transition to their original colors...if their original colors aren't brown).
Palys have the ability to 'relocate' themselves, but usually aren't as mobile as xenia's.
if their tentacles got longer they were not getting enough food
I've never heard that before. Longer feeder tentacles on palys improve their food capture ability and eat larger food particles or items; I equate the longer tentacles to good health.
The return of the zooxanthellae and the development of longer feeder tentacles are steps in the right direction. It may take many months for them to recover. When they've fully replenished their zooxanthellae they'll slowly make the shift from brown to their ideal colors (they'll go from white to probably all brown and then slowly transition to their original colors...if their original colors aren't brown).
Palys have the ability to 'relocate' themselves, but usually aren't as mobile as xenia's.
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